Insider Selling: Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) SVP Sells $55,362.30 in Stock

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) SVP David L. Roller sold 861 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $55,362.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,990,020.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of CBSH stock opened at $65.08 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.27. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.91 and a 1-year high of $65.83. The firm has a market cap of $8.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.15 and a beta of 0.76.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $414.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $406.88 million. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 23.62% and a return on equity of 16.50%. Commerce Bancshares’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Raymond James upgraded Commerce Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.86.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Commerce Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $71,835,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,372,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $660,816,000 after acquiring an additional 558,017 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Commerce Bancshares by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,676,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,541,000 after acquiring an additional 302,630 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 972,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,928,000 after purchasing an additional 237,703 shares during the period. Finally, Commerce Bank lifted its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 7,222,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $385,771,000 after purchasing an additional 196,431 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Company Profile

Commerce Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Commerce Bank that provides retail, mortgage banking, corporate, investment, trust, and asset management products and services to individuals and businesses in the United States. It operates through three segments: Consumer, Commercial, and Wealth.